H-1B visa: Donald Trump’s order repeals entire visa categories for temporary workers
Several major U.S. business groups have sued the Trump administration seeking to remove restrictions on immigration, including those on H-1B visas issued to highly skilled workers with expertise in specialized fields.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, argues that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority last month by temporarily halting access to several related visas to employment, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. people looking to work in the United States
The plaintiffs, which include the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation, seek to overturn “these sweeping and illegal immigration restrictions which are an unequivocal sign of ‘unwelcome’ ‘to the engineers, executives, computer experts, doctors, nurses and other critical workers who are helping to stimulate the US economy, ”House chief executive Thomas Donohue said in an emailed statement.
NAM Senior Vice President and General Counsel Linda Kelly said, “Our industry should be laser-focused on leading our recovery and renewal, but these visa restrictions will give other countries a competitive advantage as they will drive talented people away from America. “
Homeland Security, the state and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the trial.
Trump’s June 22 order repeals entire categories of visas for temporary workers, “inflicting serious economic damage on a wide range of American businesses in all economic sectors,” according to the complaint. Complainants argue that it exceeds presidential authority, so federal departments and officials cannot implement or enforce it.
Although Trump cited the coronavirus pandemic, his order does not have a “rational relationship” to the problem, according to the lawsuit, which seeks a court order finding the restrictions illegal and blocking them.
The House has long been a proponent of highly skilled immigration and deferred action for child arrivals, or DACA, which gives legal status to some migrants who entered the country as children.
President’s order freezes new H-1B and H-4 visas, used by tech workers and their families, as well as L visas for intra-company transfers and most J visas for work programs and study abroad, including au pairs, until the end of the year.
There are about 580,000 foreign workers with H-1B visas in skilled jobs in the United States, according to the lawsuit. Almost 160,000 L visas were issued in 2019 to executives, managers and employees with special experience and their dependents, and about 300,000 exchange visitors enter the United States each year on J visas, the Chamber said. .
The case is the United States Chamber of Commerce v. United States Department of Homeland Security, 20-cv-04887, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
With assistance from Nick Wadhams and Justin Sink.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
